# hacker

> English word · Noun · IPA /hækə/ · frequency rank #11,713

## Definitions
1. Someone who hacks.
2. Someone who hacks.
3. Someone who hacks.
4. Someone who hacks.
5. Someone who hacks.
6. Someone who hacks.
7. Someone who hacks.
8. Something that hacks; a device or tool for hacking; specifically, an axe used for cutting tree branches or wood.
9. Something that hacks; a device or tool for hacking; specifically, an axe used for cutting tree branches or wood.

## Etymology
From Late Middle English hackere, hakker, hakkere (“one who cuts wood, woodchopper, woodcutter; (rare) tool for cutting wood”), from hakken, hacke (“to cut (something) with a chopping action, hack; to make a chopping action”) + -er(e) (suffix forming agent nouns). Hakken is derived from Old English *haccian (“to hack”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakkōn (“to chop, hack”), from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop, hack”), from Proto-Indo-European *keg-, *keng- (“to be sharp; a handle; a hook; a peg”). The English word may be analysed as hack (“to chop or cut down in a rough manner”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

## Easily confused with
- **hacks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hacks)
- **hater** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hater)
- **hiker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hiker)
- **Hamer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hamer)
- **harder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-harder)
- **hockey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hockey)
- **hammer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hammer)
- **harper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-harper)
- **hooker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hooker)
- **hamper** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hamper)
- **hanger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hanger)
- **hickey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hickey)
- **Hauser** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hauser)
- **hander** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hander)
- **halter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-halter)
- **hawker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hawker)
- **hatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hatter)
- **Haller** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-haller)
- **Hackney** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hackney)
- **Hackett** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hacker-vs-hackett)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ahcker`, `haccker`, `hacekr`, `hackerr`, `hackker`, `hackre`, `hakcer`, `hcaker`, `hhacker`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hacker